Chinese tradition honors the legendary culture hero Da Yu as the shaper of the country's waterways and the originator of bronze technology.

As Da Yu (Yu the Great) he supposedly inaugurates China's Xia dynasty, named for the Si clan from which Yu springs, in about 2205, One of many legends about Da Yu recounts his extraordinary birth.

A man called Kun is placed in charge of controlling a great inundation, accompanied by unusual terrestrial events.

To dam the water, he steals from heaven what is apparently a piece of magic soil.

Angered by the theft, the Lord on High issues a decree for his execution.

After three years, Kun's miraculously preserved body is slit open and a son brought forth.

This is Yu, who resorts to natural methods, dredging outlets to the sea after years of mighty effort, (perhaps aided in this endeavor by dragons).

By another account, Yu employs hidden channels in the earth to successfully drain away the waters, thus making the world suitable for human habitation.